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Interview with Chris Karlsen

Posted by
Jo Linsdell
at
7:30 AM

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What
genre do you write and why?

I write in two different genres,
historical romance with a time travel element. Those books are my Knights in
Time series. My other genre is historical suspense with a romantic element.
Those are the Bloodstone series. My latest book, Snifter of Death, is the
second in that series.

I enjoy reading books with a
contemporary setting but my favorite stories have historical settings. My
father was a history professor so that was a major part of my life growing up.
I especially like English history, which is why I use England during the
Medieval and Victorian time periods in my stories.

The settings become another
character, often a dangerous one for the hero or heroine. I like recreating
those worlds as I picture the people and events. For the Bloodstone series, I
love using Victorian London as a setting. It is so rich in atmosphere. There’s
the class structure, the elegance vs. the poverty, the politics of the time,
and the colorful nature of everyday life.

Who
are your favourite authors?

I think Bernard Cornwell is the best
historical fiction writer hands down. His Saxon Tales series is brilliant. It’s
told in the first person and a remarkable reflection of the brutality of the
times. His battle scenes are both difficult at times to read but always
compelling. But it is his protagonist, Uhtred, who has a great sense of humor
while being an astute observer of the political dangers in the fight for
England between the Danes and Saxons.

In the romance area, my two favorite
authors are Julie Anne Long and Julia Quinn. Long writes excellent love scenes
that are hot without being raw to the point of losing the romance. Quinn always
includes a lot of humor in her stories and I love to laugh along with a
character.

As for suspense, my favorite is
Michael Connolly. As a retired detective, I appreciate his Harry Bosch
character and Mickey Haller. I think Connolly portrays the detective mindset
the best of all the authors I’ve read in the genre. Joe Wambaugh, absolutely.

What
advice do you have for other authors?

Find a good critique group to join.
You need someone other than family and friends to read your work. Your family
and friends won’t be as honest as others. Fresh eyes are a must. If you can’t
find a local group, then pick up a writer’s magazine and often in the back
there will be online groups advertised. Make sure it is a group that is giving
you constructive criticism and not just being cruel.

Develop a thick skin if you’re
submitting to any of the NY publishers or agents. There’s a very strong
likelihood you will be rejected and rejected a lot. Stephen King said in his
book “On Writing,” that Carrie was rejected so much he threw the manuscript in
the trash. His wife retrieved it and made him continue to submit.

If you choose to self-publish, you
should have the manuscript professionally edited first. Clean grammar and
proper formatting is important. Spend the extra money for that and for a good
cover design. Your cover is what draws the reader to your book to begin with.
If it is cartoonish or amateurish, the reader won’t bother to look further.

Who
is your favourite character and why?

That’s an easy question: Rudyard
(Ruddy) Bloodstone. As a retired detective, I suppose on some level he’s my
alter ego. I like that Ruddy has a sometimes healthy, sometimes problematic
disregard for both influential politicians and administrators. I like that he’s
not perfect the way Sherlock Holmes was. He’s astute and clever and not much
gets past him but Ruddy follows the wrong leads at times.

What was especially interesting and
fun for me is the fact he is working during a time when there was no science to
help him. The first book is set in 1888 and Snifter of Death is set in 1889.
This is before even the use of fingerprints comes into practice. I did give him
the use of a police photographer, which allowed me to bring in a young
constable who admires Ruddy. The lack of science means that Ruddy must glean
evidence the old fashioned way. He must go through a crime scene and gather
information by what he sees, hears, feels, etc., plus what witnesses say. I had
to walk those crime scenes with him and it do the work the same way.

I also thoroughly enjoy creating a
world of colorful support characters for him. For me, building his world and in
turn being able to flush out his personality by having him respond to those
people and events makes him my favorite. *Although, I do love many of my other story
charactersJ

If the topic is one I will return to
several times, like knights and their armor or the music halls of Victorian
London or maps of medieval London and/or Victorian London, then I purchase
reference books that contain that information. I have a decent library at home
to rely on for much of what I need.

My Knights in Time series I require
a goodly amount of medieval information on everything from armor, to jousting
rules, to information on the Battle of Poitiers, the City of London, foods and
spices, and the parts of a castle. For the Bloodstone books, I need the rank
structure for the British Army (Rudyard was in the 24th Regiment of
the South Wales Borderers), the rank structure of the London Metropolitan
Police Service, he likes music halls and has relationship with an actress so I
need that information within easy reach.

I don’t rely on Wikipedia as I
understand it can be tampered with. I use articles that it refers to in their
copy. I buy DVD’s on specific topics, again, if I am going to use the
information more than a few times. I buy archived material from magazines or
use the library. I also utilize any experts in a particular field that I know.
One of my personal doctors helped me with an injury I had a knight suffer in
Knight Blindness. He recently gave me advice on battlefield triage for my wip.

What
is your work in progress? Tell us about it.

I’m working on book 5 in my Knights
in Time series. As I mentioned, that is a historical romance series with a time
travel element. My heroine is a modern English doctor. A group of scientists
where she lives are engaged on a time travel project. When she is accidentally swept
into one of their experiments, she is caught in a time tear and sent back to
medieval England.

While the scientists continue to try
to find a way to bring her home, she begins to fall in love with a medieval
knight. As she and the knight are working out if they have a future, the
scientists are able to utilize their system again to bring her home. However,
there’s a glitch. She and the knight don’t make it to modern England but find
themselves in 1815 and surrounded by the French and English armies at Waterloo.

The hero and heroine have to escape
before they’re killed by one or the other of the battling armies. Then they
have to figure out how to get back to England and send word to the scientists
who now have no idea where they are in time.

Who
or what inspired you to become a writer?

My mother was a voracious reader and
started me reading at an early age. By the time I was twelve and thirteen I’d
read books like Jamaica Inn, Anya Seton’s Katherine, and Les Miserables. The
way those authors and others brought different worlds to life enchanted me. I
am an only child and like many only children, I had a vivid imagination anyway.

It was the movie The Ghost and Mrs.
Muir that really stoked the fire under me to write. I was broken hearted for
them that they never had a “life” together. I always swore if I had the chance,
I’d write my version of a ghostly love story with a happy ending.

After I retired, I didn’t know what
to do with myself. My husband said, you have talked about writing-well start
the book you always wanted to write. I began my ghost love story. That book is
Heroes Live Forever, book 1 in my Knights in Time series. At the same time, I
started attending conferences, and workshops, and taking seminars from
well-known instructors to learn the craft. I’ve been writing ever since.

What
are you currently reading?

I’m reading Sharpe’s Rifles by
Bernard Cornwell as my current wip has a section that is set in the Peninsula
War. I wanted to get a feel for the war. Behind it, I have The Crossing by
Michael Connolly. It has my previously mentioned favorite characters Harry
Bosch and Mickey Haller. After that, I have a Julia Quinn book, The Girl with
the Make Believe Husband,” in the queue.

3 comments:

This was such a great interview! I would think, with so many books that are available, it must be so disappointing to an author when one's book is not picked up by a publisher. I can only imagine how thick skinned one must be.

Fun interview! I recently read Snifter of Death and really enjoyed it. I'm always in awe when an author can so perfectly transport me to another era. I know getting all the details right requires meticulous research, and I have much respect for the work Chris Karlsen puts into this aspect of her writing.